Chapter 14: Reflection and Restitution
Raina's eyes were almost glowing with intensity as she stared wide-eyed at Jon. Her jaw was clenched tight, and her nostrils flared with every breath. Faced with the extreme emotions, he was unsure how to respond to her. He decided he needed to be the rational and sensible one and began pondering the situation.
"Raina, how are you certain it was Damon? We don't know what happened here."
"I know my Grandpa. He left that message for a reason. Damon's arrows were strewn all over the battlefield! It all points to his betrayal!"
"But still… How do we know Damon betrayed Grandpa Feylis? There might be a different reason he left the message and note behind."
"… Regardless of the reason, everything still points to Damon. We must find him and find out what exactly happened. Whether Damon killed him or not, we must get justice for Grandpa."
Having said that, Raina abruptly stood up, as though she intended to run after Damon right this moment.
Jon stopped her and said, "Raina, wait! What are you trying to do? Do you even know where he went? Are you just going to run around blindly?"
"What would you have me do then! I've lost Grandpa! My only family! I don't have anything else I CAN do!" Raina shouted, tears forming once more.
Seeing this, Jon quickly replied, "It's not like that. We need to bring Grandpa Feylis back for a burial. We can't just leave him here. Since we don't know how to find him, let's ask your Master back at the tower for help. I am positive she will be able to help."
Raina realized that she had forgotten about such an important task. Registering her mistake, she restrained her rage and nodded at Jon. Jon did a quick search of Feylis to find his storage pouch, with Raina's permission. Coming up empty, he changed his plans and hoisted Feylis onto his back. They slowly trudged off, heading back toward Argent Flame City.
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Damon limped alongside the river. He had followed it downstream since he had left Feylis three days ago. The direction the river flowed was generally southward, with a few twists and turns here and there. He had abandoned his original destination of the Arcane Tower of Auxiliary Paths to the east. He did not know if anyone would find Feylis, nor if anyone would pursue him, yet he still decided to change his destination just in case. He had been careless before, and now he was resolute to never again be caught unawares. His new destination was undetermined, as he did not possess a map of the path he was currently traversing.
As Damon headed further south, the terrain quickly turned from mountainous to forest. At the end of another long day doing nothing aside from trekking, he set up camp near the riverbank mindlessly. Ever since his battle, he had felt very numb, unable to concentrate.
Suddenly unwilling to continue wasting his time wallowing in his own self-pity and depression, Damon decided he needed to find a place to seclude himself and reflect on the battle, coming to terms with the event. He promptly cleaned up the shoddily set-up campsite and his tracks, and started to comb the nearby area for somewhere to hide.
After searching for several hours, he found a small burrow beneath the roots of an enormous, ancient oak tree. He dug out enough space for him to remain seated comfortably, and then covered the entrance with tree bark and other foliage for concealment. He had actually ended up traveling back up toward the north, though not in the exact direction he had come from. He ended up quite far northwest of the river.
Seated cross-legged, Damon began his reflection.
Grandpa Feylis… I don't know how he found out about my mind cultivation. He must have read about the path somewhere, leading him to attack me with the intention of stealing the cultivation inheritance for himself. If he had just asked… I might have even given it to him without any fighting. I looked up to him and thought him to be righteous and kind. It was my mistake for trusting him too easily.
I did not even question the meaning behind his action when he drew up the map for me and recommended the path to take. It made it too easy for him to track me down and ambush me when I least expected it. With my Mindsense, it should have made it much more difficult to locate me and catch me off guard otherwise. Also, after the battle, I left arrows and other tracks behind. What if someone discovered the scene and followed the trails? I cannot be this careless again.
I also need to remain alert at all times. My focus had lapsed, and I was not using my Mindsense. Unless I am in a safe and secure environment, I need to always have it activated. The drain on my mental power to have it permanently activated is not much; I passively generate more power than the usage thanks to the abundance of natural mind energy in the atmospheric essence. Furthermore, I need to pay more attention to the terrain as I travel to prevent myself from getting trapped in a disadvantageous position again.
The weaknesses of mind cultivation arts are now glaringly obvious compared to the arcane path. Although versatile, I can only use telekinesis on objects that I have touched with my bare skin. Touching the stones while rolling was a great tactic, though ordinary stones do not have the strength to properly harm a cultivator. The arrows also did not manage to make a dent in his barrier either. All that those intricate actions and extensive planning accomplished was a slight diversion, nothing more. This is because common mortal items are insufficient to use as a weapon against cultivators.
However, there are also strengths to the mind path. When I accidentally let down my guard, he managed to ensnare me. If I had not combined a mind spike and the sword attack as a desperate final attempt to recover from the harrowing situation, I would have surely been killed by now. The small golden sword is actually a lot more powerful than I realized. Although I still cannot determine the materials used to craft it, it is definitely my strongest trump card. I need to further train my mastery over controlling this blade until it becomes as dextrous and smooth as though wielded by hand. The sight of the golden blade gliding through the air like a ray of sunlight… I will name it Dawn's Edge.
Damon had sat in contemplation for several hours, reflecting on both the recent battle and past events. He also planned his future cultivation path.
To walk the path of cultivation is no simple task. It is much more arduous and treacherous than I had expected. The mind path is definitely by no means weaker than the arcane, but they both have their own strengths. If I could walk down both paths… It should be able to cover for each other's weaknesses. Before I travel any further, I must first search through Grandpa Feylis's storage pouch for anything that can improve my strength. He should be carrying an arcane cultivation manual. Perhaps I will be able to start my arcane cultivation without needing to join an association.
Having reached this point in his thoughts, Damon reached into his robes and pulled out Feylis's storage pouch. He channeled his power into the pouch, evoking an image of what was contained within. His immediate reaction was one of surprise, then restrained elation, then rumination, and then finally guilt. The first thing he noticed within the pouch was piles upon piles of books. The second thing was the 20 first-tier essence stones. The third was a collection of four arcane spell scrolls. Lastly, there was a painting of Raina and Feylis. Aside from these, there were a few random materials and also the Snowfiend Wolf corpses contained within the pouch.
Damon inspected the painting for a brief moment before placing it far away in the corner. He had already reflected and decided to move on from the battle. He was just doing his best to survive, and this was the result. He did not need to feel guilty about searching through his spoils of war.
He then withdrew the scrolls for a better look. After a short analysis, he concluded that there were three defensive barrier spells of different elements, along with one offensive lightning spear spell. These scrolls required channeling arcane power, therefore being unusable for the time being.
He placed these scrolls within his own storage pouch and then took out the essence stones for examination. They were of various colors, corresponding to their respective elements. After studying them for a while, he also deposited them within his own storage pouch, save for one. He held one red essence stone in his hand, ready to test the theory he had.
Damon had previously caused an essence stone to become completely drained of energy by invoking his mental power. At the time, he did not have the leisure to closely inspect what happened. Therefore, he was now testing it out as he finally had some essence stones. Once he circulated the mental power within his Mind Node, he could feel a sliver of energy being absorbed from the stone, as it dimmed. This temporarily increased his maximum mental power, but it drained very quickly due to being overcapacity. Afterward, he scanned his cultivation to discover it had increased by a pitiful margin, paltry enough that he would not have noticed it if not for his thorough experimentation.
I see. As I thought, these essence stones can indeed be used for mind cultivation, but the amount of stones required to advance a minor stage will be more than any Initiate could afford. I hypothesize these stones can be used for all three paths, not just mind cultivation. They contain 'essence', which is a combination of all three types of energies, just like the essence in the atmosphere. Aside from cultivation progress, these stones are more likely to be used as an external energy source. Possibly to hasten the recovery of one's power once depleted, or to supply an item or structure with the required energy. These stones have much more logistical value than just plain currency.
Damon brooded over his findings for a while before setting the matter aside. He still had many books to browse through. He hoped to find an arcane cultivation manual mixed in with the rest of the books. As he rifled through the mountain of books, he discovered most were seemingly useless, a random mixture of travel logs and journals detailing many past events. Although not what he currently needed, eventually being able to research and study these notes would increase his breadth of knowledge. This hoard of books was the accumulation of Feylis's life's efforts. It was the main contributing factor behind Feylis's erudition.
After scouring all the books, Damon found four books of strong importance. The first was simply titled 'Flame Mastery Arts'. It was a mid-grade first-tier cultivation art. The second was also another cultivation manual called 'The Path of Nature'. A quick review showed it was a low-grade first-tier nature element art. The third was a spellbook containing useful spells of the first tier. The final book was a guidebook on the art of enchanting.
Feylis had favored the use of the fire element, along with some nature element magic. He must have studied the spells included in both manuals, but his expertise lay with the fire element. This means the art he cultivated was most likely the Flame Mastery Arts. His Flame Barrage spell was indeed quite powerful. Perhaps I should follow his path.
The spellbook contains useful skills one might need at the first-tier, such as fireball, water breathing, earth wall, lesser heal, elemental shield, cleanse, and a few others. I am curious to see how spellcraft works. Once I learn the basics, will I have mastered the spell? Or will further training yield additional benefits such as increased strength, cast speed, and range? Once I begin my arcane cultivation, I must perform extensive experimentation.
Finally, the book on enchanting. It appears to be a form of supplementary skill, designed to enhance the strength of a weapon or treasure. It is a discipline under the broad profession of runemaster. These runemasters are proficient in engraving or inscribing runes. They are also the ones who create spell scrolls. Learning enchantment and engraving runes may be able to further enhance the strength of Dawn's Edge.
Although Damon was previously settled on pursuing knowledge foremost, he had come to realize that in the face of strength, all the knowledge in the world meant nothing. Hence began his pursuit of strength.